MaelstromEXE and Jake Matanoa
by SSJ4
Summary: Maelstrom and Jake were an average, ordinary navi and operator team living in the year 200X. But, a series of events results in them getting a unique power, and a destiny to battle the darkness. Current Arc: Black Shadow Virus
1. Arc I: Prologue

Author's Note: Woohoo, my RockMan.EXE fanfic is here! This fanfic doesn't involve RockMan or any characters (except Forte, but not much). I'm also going to try my best to stick to the game's mechanics rather than the anime or manga, so don't start saying "OMGWTF ROKCMAN CLON LOL" when a navi uses a buster. All navis use busters. Anyone who's ever played EXE5 and EXE6 would know that. So, here we go with the first arc of this story, the Black Shadow Virus arc!

**Arc I: Black Shadow Virus**

**Prologue**

_August 28, 200X_

_Unknown Area of the Net_

A navi opened a door and walked into a room. It had been a very long day, what with him observing the virus navi in his lab. He sat at his CyberDesk, grabbed a recorder, and began to speak into it.

"This is research navi leader Professor Xyan reporting on August 28, 200X," he began.

"The navi recovered remarkably fast after we found him in the Ura Net. I've been so busy observing him and seeing his abilities that I have had no chance to make a report until now.

"He has a powerful weapon arsenal. He has a sword, a laser, and seems very skilled in martial arts. It's incredible.

"However, he seems to have…" He paused at this, remembering what happened that day, "…violent tendencies. We put him up against a giant test navi today. A green dragon navi named Eregion. He obliterated it with complete ease. And then he destroyed what was left of it. Perhaps the bugs in him cause him to act that way. I do not know. But, I hope to find out soon. Xyan out."

He put down the recording device and put his hand on his head. There was far too much going on in his head to put in a single report. This navi, whoever he was, was incredible beyond belief.

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Xyan's lab was incredibly well hidden. It was in an area of the net that no navi had access to, or could even see without his explicit permission. It had links to each area of the net, including the Ura Net itself.

Xyan walked out of his room in the lab area. He was ready to observe the virus navi once again, to see what he did while undisturbed.

"Professor," said a beastly navi who walked up to him.

Xyan smiled. "Good morning, Beastleo," he said.

Beastleo was an incredibly strong, frightening looking beast-type navi. However, he was very human-like, rather than the instinctual animal one might expect him to be.

"We've been observing the navi since dawn," Beastleo told him, leading him to the virus navi's containment area. "He hasn't budged an inch this whole time.

Xyan looked into the containment area and at the virus navi. The navi was human shaped, and wore all red. He had yellow dots on him, signifying the enormous amount of bugs in him. He wore a facemask and a dark black visor, completely concealing his face. He sat cross-legged on the ground, not moving.

"He looks like he's meditating," Xyan said. "Interesting."

The navi sat there, completely oblivious to the scientist navis standing just a few yards away. Xyan knocked on the glass surrounding the containment area.

"Hello?" he said.

No response. Xyan tried again, to no avail.

"Well, for now we'll leave him," Xyan said. "Maybe later he'll be ready for tests."

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The next day, Xyan sat in front of the navi inside the containment cell. The navi looked at him emotionlessly, not saying a word.

Xyan cleared his throat.

"I am Professor Xyan," he said. "I'd like to ask you a few questions."

The navi said nothing. Xyan decided to continue.

"I'd like to know what your name is."

The navi stared hard at Xyan, or at least he seemed to be; his visor made it impossible to tell. But, he remained silent.

"I asked you a question," Xyan said. "What is your name?"

No response.

"Okay…" Xyan said, "then how about this: How did you come to be?"

The navi remained silent for a moment, and then finally spoke.

"Forte," he said simply.

"Forte?" Xyan asked. "The Black Shadow?"

The navi nodded.

"How did you come to be from him?" Xyan asked.

"Let's just say…we're brothers," the navi said.

Xyan shook his head.

"No, that's impossible," he said. "I was around during the Proto Incident; I know everything about Forte. He was a solo navi, and had no family other than Cossack, if you could consider them family."

"It's complicated," the navi responded. Then, he leaned towards Xyan. "I'm looking for him."

Xyan stared at the navi. "Looking for him? What for?"

The navi shook his head.

"That doesn't concern you," he responded.

"Well then," Xyan said, "how about all these bugs? How did you become so glitched?"

At that, the navi laughed. "Glitched? I'm not glitched. These bugs are a part of me. A part of who I am. They _are_ me."

"What do you mean?" Xyan asked. "You're a navi created from bugs?"

"Not exactly," the navi said. "Like I said before, it's complicated."

Xyan stared hard at the navi for a few moments, and then stood up, sighing.

"Well, it's obvious that's all the information I'll get out of you for now," he said. "I'll leave you be."

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BZ-Z-Z-Z! BZ-Z-Z-Z!

"What!"

Xyan jumped out of sleep mode. The alarm? Why was it on? He grabbed his lab coat and ran into the lab area.

The area was utter chaos. Scientist navis ran all over the place, screaming and running for cover. The area itself was on fire. Xyan saw Beastleo trying to direct everyone out.

"Beastleo!" Xyan said, running up to him. "What's going on?"

"The virus escaped!" Beastleo yelled. "He escaped from his cell and began to destroy the lab! He's already killed several of the scientists!"

Xyan's eyes widened. He had already seen some of the navi's power; if it were allowed to escape, the net would be doomed.

"I've got to stop him before he escapes!" Xyan yelled. "Get everyone out of here! I'll handle him!"

"No, professor!" Beastleo roared. "I'm coming with you."

Xyan turned around. "Thank you, my friend."

Beastleo and Xyan ran towards the containment area where the navi had been held. The glass was completely shattered, and fire and rubble were everywhere. Beastleo began to use his enormous strength to shift the rubble.

"Don't let him get away!"

In a hall in the distance, Xyan saw the virus navi run past the door at top speed, followed by two lasers, a feather, and a large icicle. An owl navi with a military-style hat, Fukuroul, flew past; followed by a human-shaped navi with peacock-like feathers, Kujacker; and finally, a very large, armored walrus navi, Kibatodos. They continued firing attacks at the virus navi, but from what Xyan could tell, it was to no avail.

Beastleo finished shifting the rubble, and began to run towards the door at top speed. Xyan ran after him, determined to stop the navi.

They finally cornered him at the end of Laboratory Area 3. The navi turned around to face the five navis, sword arm ready. Behind his visor, his eyes were glowing red. Xyan had seen that look before; it was the same look he had before he destroyed Eregion, the giant test navi.

"Stay focused!" Xyan yelled to his colleagues. "He's extremely dangerous!"

"I'm more than dangerous," the navi said. "I'm your death!"

He pointed his sword at Xyan, and charged at top speed. Not missing a beat, Kujacker warped out, and warped in front of Xyan.

"Stand back!" he yelled. The team did so, and Kujacker knelt down, shooting out five very sharp feathers in all directions. However, the virus navi jumped back, dodging the attack.

Beastleo held his claw over his shoulder, and did a backflip, sending a shockwave of energy at the navi. However, the navi slashed it with his sword, cutting the wave in half.

Fukuroul pointed his hand at the ground, and four tornadoes began to circle under the navi, who jumped out of the way before they could pick up.

Kibatodos slid on his stomach towards the navi, who jumped over the large walrus, landed on his back, jumped again, and landed in front of Xyan.

Xyan held his hands out to his sides, and two energy blades appeared from his wrists. The two navis began to hack and slash at each other with their swords, dodging and blocking the other's attacks. The virus navi jumped backwards away from Xyan, and Beastleo began to charge at him with a glowing claw extended. The navi held up his sword, blocking Beastleo, and threw him away. Kujacker began to shoot feather missiles at the navi, who jumped away and narrowly dodged the attacks. Fukuroul shot out four green balls of energy, which homed in on the virus and crossed where he had been just a split second before he dodged them as well.

"He's too fast!" Xyan said. "He keeps dodging all our attacks!"

CRASH!

Suddenly, a giant green dragon crashed into the area, flying towards the navi. Eregion. They had been working on repairing him and making him stronger, and it seemed to work.

The navi seemed to smirk as he jumped backwards, landed, and held his blade over the ground.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Xyan asked, alarmed. The navi ignored this and stabbed his blade into the ground.

The effect was instantaneous. The area began to crack around them, threatening to crumble underneath them. The virus navi jumped into the air and pointed his hand at the navi team. A laser came out, flying towards them at incredible speeds. They dodged the attack, but it hit the unstable ground, which began to fall to pieces. The navi escaped through the link.

"Quick! After him!" Xyan said, pointing towards the link. The navis all ran to it, attempting to keep their balance over the quickly crumbling ground.

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Xyan and his colleagues watched from the outside as the link to the lab disappeared completely, signaling that it was gone for good. Just like the hundreds of navis who worked there…

He turned to his colleagues.

"Okay, team," he started. "We're responsible for this mess. The virus is out there now, and we have to stop it."

"Wait till I get my claws on him…" Beastleo said, gritting his sharp teeth.

"He will be stopped," Kujacker said.

"Hoohoo! He got lucky this time!" Fukuroul stated proudly.

Kibatodos and Eregion both stayed silent. Kibatodos nodded, but Eregion didn't do anything. It was only programmed to follow its master.

"Let's stop that virus once and for all," Xyan said.

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Author's Note: Well, that's the prologue to the first arc. Hope you enjoyed it. So, read and review!


	2. Arc I: Trouble in Akihara! Full Synchro!

**Arc I: Black Shadow Virus**

**Chapter I: Trouble in Akihara**

_September 1st, 200X_

_Saiba City, Japan_

_Central Town_

"I can't believe school starts tomorrow..."

It was nearing the end of a beautiful summer in Saiba City. The weather had been very sunny all throughout the summer, seeming to reflect the moods of all the kids and teenagers of Saiba City who were happy to be out of school.

But, like many things, it didn't last.

School would be starting tomorrow. It was a downer to most of the kids. Including one thirteen-year-old boy in Central Town Park.

He was an average, everyday teenager living in the year 200X. He had brown, spiky hair, and usually wore a gray sweat coat with a blue T-shirt and jeans. His name was Jake Matanoa.

"C'mon, Jake, school won't be that bad."

Jake's navi, Maelstrom, looked about his age. He wore an all green bodysuit with green shoulder-pads, and he had a helmet with two small fins on each side.

"Yeah, yeah," Jake replied, though he didn't believe Maelstrom at all. "C'mon, let's get home and go on the net or something. Something to take my mind off of school."

"Maybe we'll meet up with Jessica and Star there," Maelstrom said, trying to cheer Jake up.

Jessica Kaizawa had been Jake's best friend since kindergarten. But, Jessica had to move away to the somewhat distant Densan City earlier that summer, meaning they never saw each other anymore. But, they still kept in touch through the net. Star was her navi, a ninja navi.

"Yeah, maybe," Jake said, cheering up a little.

He got home. Looking around, he saw his parents weren't home yet. He looked at the refrigerator and found a note:

Went to the store for some groceries. Be home soon! Love, Mom

Jake walked upstairs to his bedroom, walked up to his PC, and pointed his PET at it.

"Plug in! Maelstrom! Transmission!"

A thin beam of red light came out of the PET and went into the plug-in port. Maelstrom materialized in Jake's PC in a flash of bright blue light. He spun around as he appeared in the warp, and walked off of it.

"HEY, MAELSTROM!" said the Program-kun who looked after Jake's PC.

"Hey, Program-kun," Maelstrom said, waving as he walked by. He went through the warp and entered Central Area 1.

"Akihara Area?" Maelstrom asked.

"Akihara Area," Jake confirmed. Maelstrom began to make his way to Central Area 3, which had a passage that cut through Sky Area and into Akihara Area. He walked through the NetCafe, heading towards Area 2.

"…Welcome to the NetCafe, Maelstrom…" said the navi at the desk. "…Would you like a cup of coffee…?"

"Not today," Maelstrom said. "I'm just passing through."

"…I see…well, have a good time…" the navi said as Maelstrom left.

Maelstrom walk to Central Area 3 was uneventful. He walked through, saying hi to passing navis, and entered Area 3.

Central Area 3 was always a place of intrigue due to the large pit in the middle. As such, it was usually filled with tourists.

"Wow, this pit is huge!"

"I wonder what's down there?"

Maelstrom knew the legend of the Dennoujou. Two monstrous beasts had fought all over the CyberWorld, and their battle climaxed here, creating the massive pit. They were rumored to be sleeping in this pit in Central Area 3.

He walked past the navi at the desk, who was really just a papier-mache, flashing his AreaPass so he could go through. He entered Sky Area 2 and walked up the enormous staircase in front of him, knowing that if he were human, this would be exhausting. He finally reached the top and entered Akihara Area.

"See Star anywhere, Maelstrom?" Jake asked. Maelstrom looked around for a moment, and then spotted the familiar black-clad navi.

"There she is!" Maelstrom said. He took the warp to the main Akihara Area and walked towards her. "Hey, Star!"

Star turned around, and smiled at the sight of her friend.

"Hi, Maelstrom!" she said. "Long time no see!"

"Is that Maelstrom?" Jake heard a voice say. "Jake? Are you there?"

"No," Jake said. "I'm asleep. Maelstrom got into the net by himself."

He heard a laugh.

"Hi, Jake," she said. "Good to hear from you again!"

The two navis began to walk around Akihara Area.

"So, what's up?" Maelstrom asked.

"Oh, not much," Star replied. "You?"

"Same here," Maelstrom said. "Though Jake's bummed out about school starting tomorrow."

He heard a groan. "Why'd you have to remind me?" Jake asked. He heard Jessica laugh again, and decided to change the subject.

"So, what's Densan like?" Jake asked.

"It's pretty different from Central Town," Jessica replied. "Akihara Town is more like a suburb than Central Town is. Central Town's more urban."

"Sounds nice," Jake said.

BOOM!

"What the-?" Maelstrom and Star both turned towards the source of the noise.

A giant dragon flew through the area, roaring and crashing through the net. Several navis screamed and ran, some escaping and some getting hit by the dragon.

"Quick, plug out!" Jake said.

"You, too, Star!" Jessica said.

"Right!" both navis said. They stood there for a moment.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jake asked impatiently.

"I can't plug out!" Maelstrom replied. "That thing must've put up some kind of barrier!"

"Dang it!" Jake said upon hearing this. "Okay, we'll have to fight it!"

Star pulled out her shuriken and Maelstrom went into a fighting stance.

"Battle routine, set!" Jake and Jessica said.

"Execute!" Maelstrom and Star said in unison. Maelstrom's facemask appeared and Star pulled her scarf over her mouth. The dragon looked at them, roared, and charged madly. The two navis ducked as it flew over them, turned around, and then landed in front of them.

"Elemental Star!" Star called out. Her shuriken split into four smaller stars, each one of a different element, and she threw them at the dragon. They connected, seeming to do damage, but the dragon barely flinched and shook off the attack.

"Buster Fist!" Maelstrom said. His hand was encased in a large, green, metal fist. He ran up to the dragon at top speed and punched its leg, leaving a dent but doing no more damage than that.

"This thing's strong," Jake commented. "Okay, battlechips!"

He began searching through his chipfolder, trying to find a good chip to use. Maelstrom and Star backed away from the dragon as it lifted itself off of the ground, flew forward a little, and then landed. It reared its claw back…

"Reflector 1, battlechip in!" Jake heard Jessica say. "Download!"

Star jumped in front of Maelstrom with a large, yellow shield with a green plus sign in her hand. She held it up and blocked the incoming claw, and the shield retaliated by sending a shockwave at the dragon. It connected with its foot, but did no damage whatsoever.

"Thanks, Star," Maelstrom said. Jake found an Air Shoes and a Bronze Fist chip.

"Okay, let's try this!" Jake said eagerly. "Air Shoes, and Bronze Fist! Battlechips in! Download!"

Using the Air Shoes, Maelstrom launched himself high into the air. The dragon opened up its mouth, and purple energy began to form in its throat. Maelstrom's fist became a large, bronze fist, and he punched the dragon just before it launched the blast.

The dragon stood there, about to launch the blast, but unmoving. Maelstrom landed, and he felt odd. He felt twice as powerful as he just did. But, how was that possible?

Jake felt something, too. He could feel power. He could feel Maelstrom, almost as if he could hear Maelstrom's thoughts.

"Heaven Shuriken!" Star yelled, taking advantage of the dragon not moving. Her shuriken glowed a pure white color, and she threw it at the dragon's head. The shuriken connected, and the dragon recoiled back from the attack.

"I've never seen that attack before!" Jake said in awe.

"We've been practicing," Jessica said happily.

"Impressed?" Star asked Maelstrom. Maelstrom, though distracted by the sudden power surge, saw the attack.

"Very," he said, grinning at her. "We should netbattle sometime."

The dragon recovered and looked at Star angrily. It leaned over and opened its mouth, charging up purple energy. Rapid blasts fired out at them.

"Look out!" Maelstrom yelled, grabbing Star's arm and pulling her out of the way. The blasts slammed into the ground, breaking it with each blast that connected.

"Thanks," Star said.

"No problem," Maelstrom replied. "Jake, got any more good battlechips?"

"I've got another Bronze Fist," Jake said. He pulled out the battlechip and slotted it in. He then began to type in a rapid code.

"Take this!" Maelstrom called at the dragon. It turned to look at him. He pulled his fist back and punched, sending a flying Bronze Fist at the dragon, feeling the sudden surge of power leave him as he did. It connected with more force than before, and the dragon roared in agony. It began to explode, still roaring, and then it exploded into a million tiny data bits.

Maelstrom fell to his knees, weak despite the fact that he took no damage in the fight. The sudden power surge had drained him. His breathing was heavy as he tried to recover.

"Maelstrom, are you okay?" Star asked, concerned. She kneeled over and looked at him. He looked up at her.

"I'm fine," he said. "Just tired, that's all. We should still netbattle sometime."

"Maelstrom says he felt that power, too," Jake told Jessica over his PET phone. "Do you think I'm going insane?"

"_Going_ insane?" Jessica asked. Jake laughed.

"Gimme a break," he said. "But seriously, do you know anything about it?"

"Hmm…" Jessica thought about it for a moment. "Well, I think I've heard something like this before, but I don't remember much about it."

"Well, I'll ask my dad about it when he gets home," Jake said. "See you later."

"Bye!" Jessica said before hanging up.

"Jake, dinner's ready!" Jake's Mom called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Jake called back. He ran downstairs. Fighting dragons made him hungry.

The Matanoa family, which consisted of Jake, his mother Serena, and his father Dr. Fredrick Matanoa, was sitting at the table, eating Mom's delicious Teriyaki Chicken.

"Great as always, honey," Dad said.

"Thank you, I try!" Mom said happily.

They continued to eat while Dad talked about his day at the Central Town Labs. He was the Head Netbattle Technician, an expert netbattler who worked on developing new techniques to bust viruses with the help of his navi, FighterMan. Because of his expertise, Dad would be the perfect person to ask about the strange power.

"Hey Dad," Jake started once he finished talking. "Earlier today, something weird happened."

He began to describe the fight with the dragon, and the sudden power he and Maelstrom had felt. Dad stroked his chin for a moment.

"Hmmm, if I'm correct," he said, "Than what you've just described to me is Full Synchro."

"Full Synchro?" Jake asked. "What's that?"

"It's a special power," Dad said. "It can only be activated by a navi and operator who have a strong bond with each other. By operating Maelstrom well, you were able to achieve it. Full Synchro makes a navi twice as powerful as he normally is."

"Wow, really?" Jake asked.

"Really," Dad said, smiling. "I'm proud of you. It's a difficult power to achieve. But if you master it, you'll be unbeatable."

"Wow," Jake said, looking at his plate. "But what about the dragon not moving?"

"That's called a Counter Attack," Dad explained. "When you attack an enemy right as it's about to attack, you can Counter it. It'll be stunned. It can also help to activate Full Synchro."

"Full Synchro and Counter…" Jake said. "Alright, we're gonna master them both! Thanks, Dad!"

"You're welcome, son," Dad said.

Author's Note: Well, that's my first chapter. Those who read the original first and second chapters that I didn't post here will notice the huge changes I've made. Jake learns about Full Synchro right in the first chapter! Star isn't knocked out! Different, isn't it? Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Read and review!


	3. Arc I: Changebat, the Style Change Prog

**Arc I: Black Shadow Virus**

**Chapter II: Change.bat, the Style Change Program**

_September 2nd, 200X_

_Central Town, Saiba City, Japan_

_Jake's House_

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Jake, time to wake up!"

"Ugh…"

Jake sat up in his bed, still tired. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to his desk at his PET.

"School starts today…" he said wearily.

"Yep," Maelstrom said. "And the early bird gets the worm. C'mon, get up!"

"The late bird would like sleep with a side of 'don't wake me up until noon,'" Jake said, lying back down on his bed.

"Jake, wake up!" Maelstrom said, activating the PET alarm again.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Annoyed, Jake put his pillow on top of his head, trying to block out the noise. The last place he wanted to go was school, especially after sleeping in all summer long. Finally, the noise got to him. He sat up, put his feet into his slippers, and got out of bed. Maelstrom stopped the alarm.

"About time," Maelstrom said. "School starts at eight o'clock, so we've got an hour to get ready."

"Barely make it out of Akihara yesterday and now we have to go to school," Jake mumbled to himself so that Maelstrom wouldn't hear. "My life sucks."

He got dressed, grabbed his PET, and walked downstairs, still not quite awake.

"Morning, Mom," Jake said groggily, sitting at the table. He noticed two plates, complete with silverware, on the table. Next to his plate, there was a glass of milk.

"Good morning!" Mom said in a singsong voice. Jake groaned. Mom had been looking forward to today because, as she put it, "You need a good education so you can grow up to be successful." But Jake thought the real reason was so she would have peace and quiet all day.

The smell of eggs and pancakes that Mom was cooking reached Jake's nose. It woke him up a little more. It smelt delicious.

Mom came out of the kitchen holding a bowl of scrambled eggs and a plate with a tall stack of pancakes. She set them on the table and sat down.

"I thought we'd have a little feast to start off the first day of school," she told him. "Well, dig in!"

After saying grace, Jake grabbed a large scoop of eggs and three pancakes, and began to eat, trying to keep his mind off of school.

"Mm," Jake said through some eggs. He swallowed them. "Good food, Mom."

"Thanks," she said, eating some pancakes.

After breakfast, Jake stood up and went upstairs to wash up. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, and then went back downstairs and into the living room. He checked his watch; it was 7:45.

_School's only about three minutes away,_ he thought to himself. _I have some time to rest._ He laid his head back on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Jake, what are you doing?" Maelstrom asked. "School, remember?"

"Oh, c'mon," Jake said. "School's not that far. Just let me rest for a few minutes."

"Alright," Maelstrom said. Jake was surprised that Maelstrom agreed so fast, but didn't worry about it.

He lay there for a while, thinking about things that would keep his mind away from school. Hanging out with Jessica, going on the net, netbattling, that sort of thing. A giant green dragon appeared in his head, opening its jaws wide…

"Wha-!" Jake suddenly sat up, shaking his head quickly.

"Jake, you okay?" Maelstrom asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, trying not to think about the dragon. He checked his watch. It was now 7:53. "I guess we'd better go," he said sadly. He grabbed his PET, stood up, and walked towards the door.

"I'm heading out!" Jake called to Mom. "Later!"

"Bye, honey!" Jake heard Mom say. Jake put on his shoes, grabbed his skateboard, and skated to school.

"Well, good to meet all of you today!" the 8th grade teacher, Mr. Terrinigan, said. "I certainly hope you're all ready to learn new things this year."

Jake was sitting at his desk, listening to, but not really caring about what Mr. Terrinigan had to say. He wanted to be at home, asleep.

"Well, as a special treat due to it being the first day of school," Mr. Terrinigan said, "I've planned a field trip to Endo City for all of us."

Jake suddenly paid more attention to Terrinigan. _A field trip?_ He thought to himself. _Good, something to do other than sit here all day._

"We'll be going at ten o'clock, so for now we'll start today's lesson.

"This year in Netbattling class," Terrinigan began, "We'll be learning more about the various ways navis can be upgraded. Undoubtedly you've all learned about Style Changes and Soul Unison in written lessons, correct?"

The class said nodded and mumbled an affirmative.

"Well, this year will be even better," Terrinigan said. "We'll actually be _using_ Styles this year."

Jake finally perked up. He had never actually used a Style Change before. It was supposed to be something only the people of Ajinna had access to.

"Using Styles?" Maelstrom said. "Hey Jake, looks like this year won't be as bad as you thought."

"Guess not," Jake said.

"Normally, we only use sample Styles in our classes so the students get the gist of using Styles," Terrinigan explained. "But, due to the recent incidents involving Dr. Wily and Dr. Regal, the Government of Ajinna has allowed us access to the Change.bat program, enabling us to use real Style Changes. This is a great thing, because you will all learn much more and get much more out of this class.

"Today we'll be installing this program into your navis. If you would all plug into your desks, please."

The class pulled out their various Link PETs and plugged into their desks. The blackboard lit up, and a screen appeared, showing the navis in a CyberWorld version of Class 2-A. The teacher's navi, a generic navi that looked like an official navi, spoke up.

"Attention, please!" he said, getting the attention of the navis in front of him. He gestured towards a large something next to him. It looked sort of like a purple spinning top with a dark yellow rim around it. Two bright purple data streams surrounded it. "This is the Change.bat program. By installing this into yourself, you will be able to gain the power of the Style Change. Style Changes are powerful abilities that adapt to your fighting style. If you use a lot of battlechips in a fight, your Style will be adapted to battlechips. If you use your buster attacks a lot, you'll gain a Style that powers your buster up. See what I mean?

"Now, who's going to be first? Any volunteers?"

Several navis raised their hands. Terrinigan's navi looked through them for a moment before pointing to one.

"You, the green navi," he said. "Come here."

He had pointed to Maelstrom. Excited, Maelstrom walked up to the front of the class.

"What's your name?" Terrinigan's navi asked.

"Maelstrom."

"Maelstrom. Right then, Maelstrom. Face the Change.bat and walk up to it."

Maelstrom turned to the large program and walked to it until he was a foot away from it. Terrinigan's navi walked next to him and put his hand on the program.

"Now put your hand on the program," he said. Maelstrom did as told.

"Begin installation of Change.bat into Maelstrom.EXE," Terrinigan's navi said. "I warn you, this will hurt somewhat."

The program began to flash brightly. Bright purple data streams came out of it and went into Maelstrom. He felt an unpleasant tingling sensation, followed by stinging, where the streams were touching.

"Ow," he said. "Owowow. Ouch."

"You okay, Maelstrom?" Jake asked him, causing a few of the students' heads to turn to look at him.

Maelstrom didn't answer. The data streams ended abruptly, and Maelstrom stood there for a moment.

"Installation successful," Terrinigan's navi said with satisfaction in his voice.

"Maelstrom?" Jake asked, concerned.

"I'm fine…" Maelstrom said in a somewhat strained voice. "But, I don't feel any different."

"The Style Change's activation takes time," Terrinigan's navi explained. "It'll happen after you have enough battle experience. Fighting viruses will help it along. The program needs time to examine your fighting style."

"Oh, I get it now!" Maelstrom said. "Alright, thanks!"

"You're welcome. So, who's next?"

One by one, the navis walked up to the program. It seemed to have endless amounts of data in it, successfully installing into each and every one of the navis. Several of them winced in pain except for the "macho" navis who supposedly didn't feel pain.

"Installation successful," the navi said one last time, finishing installing into a navi named GrenadeMan. "Well, that went very well. Congratulations on being the first class to have the real Change.bat installed!"

The class, as well as their navis, cheered happily.

Terrinigan looked at the clock over the door.

"Well, we don't have time today to learn about Styles," he said, "But we will begin to study them in depth tomorrow, and hopefully use them later on this year.

"Well, it's almost ten o'clock. Everyone line up in a single file line in front of the door and follow me.

Excited, Jake stood up and got into line.

-----------------

Author's Note: Well, that's another new chapter. This is something I hadn't planned at all originally. It was something that sort of came to mind as I wrote the chapter. But, it'll help me out. I'm glad I wrote this chapter like this. Any feedback, advice, compliments, or animal sacrifices are welcome. Any way I can improve my writing? Please tell me anything you can think of, as I want to improve as much as possible. But flames will be fed to my dog.


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